


Stop The Apocolypse Out of Spite

by Overdramatic_Queer_Antagonist



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Everybody Lives, F/M, I guess this would be canon divergence, M/M, Martin gets to be the bastard he deserves to be, Martin is an avatar of the lonely because i think it's neat, The author has no idea how Ao3 works, teen rating cuz I say fuck, the author is American
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28053405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Overdramatic_Queer_Antagonist/pseuds/Overdramatic_Queer_Antagonist
Summary: I kept seeing Lonelyeyes raises Martin fics and they were all so healthy so I came here to change that. Basically this is me asking "what if Martin knew everything that was about to happen and decided to be an asshole about it."
Relationships: Elias Bouchard/Peter Lukas, I'll add more as they appear - Relationship, Martin Blackwood & Sasha James & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist & Tim Stoker, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Sasha James/Tim Stoker, but like a joke
Comments: 22
Kudos: 135





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no clue Ao3 works. I kept erasing all my tags. It was a nightmare. I don't understand what half of these words mean.  
> CW:  
> 1\. Passive Aggression  
> 2\. Near Death experiences  
> 3\. Murder  
> 4\. Dead bodies  
> If you notice anything else you'd like me to put in a warning for, let me know.

Martin is a nice man. Really, he is. He helps old ladies cross the street, volunteers at the local animal shelter, and all that jazz. People expect his parents to be equally polite, retired probably, with a home with a beautiful garden somewhere in the suburbs. This was not the case. Let’s just say finding out that his parents were two billionaires who argued for sport was a top tier relationship ender. And yet, Martin’s failed relationships didn’t come even close to why he resented Elias and Peter.

To start with, they were plain evil. Not abusive. Like, supervillain, “eat this poison apple” type people. Also, there was the arguing thing. They had this weird game. They would fight, divorce, Peter would fuck off on the Tundra, and then remarry, rinse and repeat. He, honest to God, didn’t care about their weird kink if they didn’t so clearly want him to participate. When he had first moved in, he tried to stay in his room as much as possible. Not seen, not heard, that’s what had worked with his mum. But they weren’t having any of that, and pretty soon, he was a part of their little game. Then there was the whole thinking money equates to love, although he felt kind of guilty about that one. At least he had money. But the worst thing by far was Elias’s insistence that Martin work for The Institute.

He had only really done it to shut Elias up, of course. He was planning on quitting the next week. Saying, “he tried, but he doesn’t think it’s for him. Plus, he feels so bad knowing that he has a leg up on all his coworkers.” And all that bullshit that Martin and Elias both know was posturing. But he went up to Elias’s office to resign only to find that he couldn’t. Not like Martin discovered that he really loved the job, he was hired as Elias’s assistant and did absolutely nothing all day, but he literally couldn’t. Elias, of course, was smirking triumphantly at Martin when he found himself tongue-tied. That was the one time he called Elias Jonah. Never again. The pride on his face was immeasurable.

There were some alright things about them, though. Martin never had to worry about money, and they would usually leave him alone, probably The Lonley’s doing, but whether it was Peter or himself doing it was a mystery to Martin. His job at the institute wasn’t the worst. The pay was ridiculously high (another thing Martin hated: nepotism), and it was clear that Elias had only hired him to gloat. He didn’t actually care what Martin did during his day.

Well, that’s not entirely true. There was one thing Elias truly despised him doing. Elias couldn’t stand him hanging around the Archives. Ergo, that became Martin’s new favorite spot. He didn’t like the first Archivist, Gertrude. She always seemed like she couldn’t decide if he was an idiot or a spy. She never once seemed to consider that he might actually be able to help stop Elias. She was doing a great job pissing of Elias, though, so he stuck around. And then she disappeared. Elias was the culprit, no doubt, and he had a pretty good idea of where her body was. He didn’t care about that rude old lady nearly enough to even consider going down there to look, though.

He liked her replacement. Jonathan Sims. He was ignorant, for one, which was refreshing. The less Jon knew the less his glares stung. He knew nothing about what was actually going on, so there was no actual malice in them. It was cute. Jon also had a very entertaining habit of forgetting that Martin was Elias’s son. Whenever he was relaxed enough or drunk enough (thanks, Tim), Jon would rant about how much he hated Elias. Martin found this cute too. Maybe he just thought Jon was cute. Usually, Jon would pause suddenly, realizing who he was talking to, no doubt, and prepare an apology of some sort before being interrupted by Martin complaining about Elias more than he had. Martin would bring tea to Jon and his assistants, Tim and Sasha, and pretend for a second that they were safe. He liked it.

Then Prentiss attacked. He was worried all day, hilariously enough, not about Prentiss. That would be pretty simple to stop, and even Elias would be sure to try and prevent it from actually killing anyone. No, it was that fucking table. He wasn’t stupid. He listened to every tape. He knew (not Knew he took a lot of pride in that) that the NotThem was connected to it. Jon and Tim had each other, but Sasha was all alone or worse, with Elias. So he managed to ‘get separated’ from Tim and Jon and hurried to Artifact Storage.

Just as he’d expected, there was Sasha, face to face with the NotThem, paralyzed. He may have panicked a little bit, but he liked Sasha. So he did what he had to. He grabbed her and dragged her into the Lonely.

Which brings him to now. In the Lonely, praying he can anchor Sasha enough, with Sasha standing in front of him, snapping out of her daze.

“Oh my God, Martin!” she said, rushing to hug him and sounding relieved, “Thank you! Thank-” She stiffened. Here it comes. Martin thought. “Martin?”

“Yes, Sasha?” He heard himself respond shakily.

“What are you?” Sasha asked calmly and, to Martin’s relief, not letting go.

Martin laughed nervously, “Well, I’m Polish on my mother’s side.”

Sasha smacked his arm, “You know what I meant.”

“… I’m gay? You already know that, Sash-”

“Oh, my God! Stop deflecting. I’m literally begging you!” She laughed, pushing off of him.

“If I had an answer, I’d tell you, Sash.” He answered, honestly, “But if you’re asking if I’m still human? Yes, I guess.”

“Great. Can you get us out?”

“Oh, sure. Any suggestions?”

“Can you get us to Tim and Jon?”

Martin paused, “Maybe? I don’t really know where they are. I don’t serve the Beholding. They’re in the tunnels, though. So I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises.”

Sasha blinked, “I understood half of that.”

Martin laughed and held out his hand for Sasha to take, “Yeah. We have lots to talk about.”

Sasha took it, and Martin took a deep breath. Focusing on the sense of belonging he felt in the Archives (cliche, he knows, not his fault his patron is a sucker for the power of love), and pulled himself and Sasha out. They did not find themselves with Tim and Jon. They did, however, find themselves in the tunnels, staring at the year-old corpse of Gertrude Robinson with three bullets in her chest and a sickening lack of eyes. They both screamed and ran out of the room as fast as possible. They ran fast, not bothering to look behind them and not even noticing the lack of worms, only stopping to breathe when they flew out of the trapdoor into the Archives.

Sasha was the first to speak, panting with both fear and exhaustion, “Was that?”

“Yes,” Martin responded, trembling quite a bit himself.

“Do you know who?”

“Who else? Elias.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uhhh. The aftermath of the Prentiss Attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good god I don't know what I'm supposed to say here. Oh also the formatting is suddenly different.  
> CW:  
> 1\. Murder  
> 2\. Murder accusations  
> 3\. There's one quick mention of death and food  
> 4\. Insomnia  
> If you find anything else you'd like a warning for, let me know.

Jon was tired. Exhausted, even. He had just been chased around in tunnels by evil worms, quarantined, and then found out that his predecessor had been murdered. Suffice to say that he wasn't in the best mood. Yet here he was, taking statements from his friends and coworkers. Tim didn't have much to say that he didn't already know. They were together for most of it, after all. Sasha stepped into the office next.  
"Hey, Jon. How are you doing?" Sasha asked, seemingly as tired as he felt. He just fixed her with a look that was meant to be sympathetic but probably came off as rude.  
"Let's just get this over with. Then you can go home," Sasha nodded, "Statement of Sasha James, regarding Jane Prentiss's Attack on The Magnus Institute, Londen. Statement pulled directly from the subject." Jon sighed, setting up his tape recorder.  
"Okay, well. You already know the beginning. Worms broke into the Archives, you, me, and Martin hid in the storage closet. Tim was being a dipshit, I went to save him, and we got separated. I ended up pulling the fire alarm to get everyone out of the building and grabbed Elias on his way out. We went back into the Institute to deploy the CO2, but we got separated. I ended up getting chased into Artifact Storage and... Something was there, and it wasn't human. Martin ended up pulling me into this weird fog plane to save me from it and-"  
"What?" What the fuck did he just hear. Martin- How?  
Sasha's eyes widened as he interrupted her, "Wait- fuck. I didn't mean to say that. Martin asked me not to. He wanted to be the one to tell you. Let's just move on, okay?" Jon nodded reluctantly, and Sasha continued on with her statement, "We went down to the tunnels. We were trying to find you and Tim, but..."  
"You found something else."  
Sasha nodded, "Martin said he was sure it was her. He also said-"  
Jon put his hand up to stop her, "He can tell me himself. Send him in, please." Sasha nodded and walked quickly out of the room.  
Jon put his head in his hands. Sasha was rational. She wouldn't have just jumped to a conclusion like that, but- He knew Martin. Martin brought him tea and laughed when Jon forgot who his dad was. He wasn't some- thing? Monster? - he was Martin. Even so, He Knew Sasha was telling the truth.  
The door opened, and he looked up to see Martin smiling sweetly at him. At some point, Jon had turned the recorder off. This was ridiculous. It was Martin, for christ's sake. Jon would just ask him, politely.  
"What are you?"  
Or he could say that. He expected to see a look of confusion or hurt on Martin's face. Instead, Martin laughed and sat down.  
"Second time I've been asked that today," He said, still smiling.  
Jon tried to sound more disconnected than he was, but his voice still came out hurt, "so what's the answer?"  
Martin frowned, "Huh. Too bad. I was really hoping you'd be able to have that answer. God knows I don't," He saw Jon getting agitated and reached over the table to comfort him, " I can still die, I still eat and sleep. I'm just- there's more than just that. Does it really matter? I'm still Martin."  
Looking back, Jon didn't actually suspect Martin. He was just angry, hurt for whatever reason. But he still had to ask, "Did you kill Gertrude Robinson?"  
This got a reaction out of Martin, but still not hurt. His eyebrows shot up, and his eyes glowed with pride. Like he had been pleasantly surprised and not accused of murder, "No. I didn't like her. But you know what they say, 'the enemy of my enemy.'"  
"And what enemy would that be?"  
"Now you're asking the real questions. That would be her killer, Elias Bouchard."  
The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. At some point, Jon had stood up and was leaning over the table, looking so intently at him that their noses were almost touching. For some reason, that got more of a reaction out of Martin.  
"Martin," Jon began.  
"Yes?"  
"D-did you just accuse your own father of murder?"  
Martin scoffed at him and responded with dry sarcasm that really didn't fit him, "Yes. I did. Keep up. Why is that so hard to believe? Elias is a capitalist. I'd be more surprised if he hadn't murdered anyone."  
"Yes, but he's your father."  
"That doesn't mean as much as you think, Jon. And before you ask, no. He was pretty alright at parenting. He just also was a monster."  
"But aren't you-"  
Martin cut him off, looking actually upset for the first time in this horrifying conversation, "Now that actually hurts, Jon. There is a difference between being an avatar and being evil. If you don't want to take me as an example, take Gertrude- Or. Yourself."  
"What the fuck are you talking about?"  
"Lot's," Martin said quietly. Dammit, he was upset. "But now isn't the time," Martin stood up and walked to the door. As he was opening the door, he looked back at Jon, "Don't bother with Elias's statement. It's all lies," Martin softened, "And Jon? Get some rest."  
***  
Jon tried to listen to Martin. The moment he got to his flat, he flopped down onto his bed. But he couldn't sleep. His mind was racing. Gertrude was murdered, by Elias if he was to believe Martin -and he did for some reason-, Monsters were real, and more than just Mr. Spider, Sasha had nearly been killed by one and... Saved by one.  
He knew it was true -To an extent. Martin had called himself an avatar, which made Jon feel a lot better, actually- but he still couldn't believe it. Come on. It was Martin. Martin was human. He breathed, and ate, and drank tea, and laughed. Did he actually have to do any of those things, or was it a conscious act? Jon didn't particularly like this train of thought, but it was better than dwelling on his boss being a murder, so he continued. Was Martin really as incompetent as he seemed? Was that even an act, or was that just what Jon was expecting from his boss's son?  
The more he thought about Martin, the guiltier he felt. Martin was actually pretty nice now that he thought about it, and he clearly knew more than him. He wasn't even actually an archival assistant. He just hung out there and, out of kindness, helped the clearly understaffed team. And Jon was so mean to him and- and. He'll just apologize to Martin tomorrow. He was going to anyway, for the whole monster thing. There was no point dwelling on it. He still did, of course, but the resolve to apologize made him feel a bit better.  
He had almost actually fallen asleep when the doorbell rang. Checking his clock, he could tell it was 4:00 in the morning. He hoped it wasn't that Michael thing. Sasha had said something about him and doors. When he had opened the door, though -after extensive checking that it was, in fact, his door- He found Tim, looking more solemn than Jon had ever seen him. Under his arm, Tim held what looked like statements, and a lot of them.  
Tim fixed Jon with a heavy glare and said, "Sasha told me. We need to talk."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim falls apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. Finals week and all that jazz. Plus I had some original writing to finish by Christmas. So this just fell to the end of my priorities list. I think I'm going to try to start updating it every Sunday but don't hold me to that.  
> CW:  
> 1\. Trauma  
> 2\. Mention of death and funerals   
> 3\. drinking  
> 4\. Arguments  
> If you find anything else you'd like a warning for, let me know.

Tim watched Jon's face distort in confusion as they sat together on the floor of Jon's flat. Tim, for his part, wasn't entirely sure how to say what he was going to. 'Hey, boss. You know my friend Martin? Well, his buddies murdered my brother!' wouldn't cut it. He doubted Jon would believe it. Hell. He didn't really believe it himself.  
At this point, whether or not Martin was involved in Danny's death was speculation, but odds are, Naomi Herne didn't just lie about her fiancé's last name. Tim pulled the transcript of the interview out and handed it to Jon silently.  
Jon looked up at him, brows furrowing, "Naomi Herne's statement? Tim, why did you come to my flat at 4 in the morning to hand me a statement I took myself?"  
When Tim spoke, his voice was dull and cracking, "What was the name of her fiancé's family?"  
Jon made a face but answered, "Lukas. Wh-" His face shattered with understanding.  
"Y'know, I thought Martin's reaction to her was weird. Always thought it was the neck brace," Tim laughed bitterly.  
Jon took his glasses to rub his face. He winced as he touched the holes from yesterday. "But- Why didn't we notice it at the time? We knew who his parents were," He said.  
"Because we didn't want to believe our friend was a monster. Caring can be one hell of a blinder."  
The two sat in silence. Both painfully aware that they were standing on a very narrow line, and one wrong word would send them both tumbling. A couple times, Jon made to speak before shaking his head and continuing the silence.  
At some point, Tim had gotten up to get water. How long had he been holding in tears? He forced himself to stay up as he pulled a glass from the familiar enough kitchen. They'd had a couple of Archives parties. Usually, they were at Tim and Sasha's, but sometimes Jon was feeling nice enough to volunteer.  
Usually, it would get so late -or they'd get so drunk- that the Archives parties would turn into Archives sleepovers. Those were such happy memories for Tim, but now they made him sick. He, Sasha, and Jon slept with Martin there. They felt safe. How many times could Martin have hurt one of them? What if instead of Herne, it was Sasha?  
Tim's body directed him to the sink. It hardly registered that he was there until the glass overflowed and the freezing water splashed against his hand.  
From the living room, a barely audible voice said, "I don't think 'monster' is the right word."  
Tim's head whipped towards Jon, and he laughed. A loud, angry thing. Not the joyous, inexplicable he had shared with the others.  
"So what word would you use for something that hunts people?" Tim demanded.  
"That's just it. Mar- He doesn't!" Jon debated as he tried to keep the volume low.  
"Oh, He doesn't? Well, that's just great! Do you want to tell Ms. Herne that she was wrong, or should I?" Tim yelled, countering Jon's attempts to keep the volume down.  
"We have no evidence that he attended the funeral! Ms. Herne said her fiancé had managed to get away from the family!"  
"Yeah, well, Ms. Herne's fiancé never pulled anyone into a fog domain, now did he?"  
"Tim, he saved Sasha's life!"  
Tim's stance shifted, and his face darkened. "These things don't save anything. Only destroy," He muttered, his burning fury replaced with a quiet hatred.  
Tim threw the rest of the statements, most about either the Lukas or that fucking Circus that he knew so well, and marched out the door.  
***  
Tim sat outside of his and Sasha's flat. He knew she would be awake and furious. She had probably thought it wouldn't be fair if he was the only one not to know. Even so, she still texted Martin for his permission, it was his secret, after all. At first, Tim was surprised that she hadn't made the connection. It was almost enough to dissuade him, but she didn't see what had happened. It didn't play in the back of her mind as it did him. Eventually, Tim opened the door. He was right that Sasha would still be up. She stood up and raced to the door, tackling him in a hug.  
“Oh, thank fucking God!” Sasha sighed into Tim's chest, "I didn't know where you went. I thought you were going to get yourself killed!"  
Oh, right. Tim had been in such a hurry that he didn't tell Sasha where he was going. "Please don't be mad?" Tim asked.  
"If you ask me that, I probably have a right to be."  
"Yeah. That's fair... Okay. I broke into the archives."  
"Oh, that's all? Tim, I don't care about la-"  
"And then I paid Jon a visit."  
“Jesus Christ, Tim!” Sasha pushed off of him to look him in the eyes. Tim missed the warmth.  
“I know.”  
“It’s four am!”  
“I know. He was awake though, so we should really yell at him about that.”  
“Okay. Now I know you didn’t do anything too stupid. Now, Why? What was so important that you couldn’t wait till tomorrow?” Sasha asked, leading him to the living room.  
“I listened to what you said and, well, I agreed. The forces at play didn’t work the same as with Danny. So I wanted to see if any statements matched his skillset and well- Do you remember Naomi Herne?” Sasha nodded, “Can you tell me her fiance’s surname?”  
She was quicker on the pick up than Jon was. Then again, when wasn’t she? She went to respond. Probably to make the same argument as Jon did. He put his hand on her shoulder.  
“I know Sasha,” Tim said, “I really want to agree with you. I mean- it’s fucking M-Martin! And he saved you! Who knows. Maybe they can be good and I’m some kind of… I don't know. I wanna say wizard racist?” He choked out, tears finally flowing free. “But- Sasha. What happened to Danny took everything from me. That feeling of helplessness mixed with guilt. It was hell. I can’t feel that again. I Won’t feel that again.”  
Sasha nodded, “Just don’t be a dick about it okay?”  
Tim laughed wetly, pulling Sasha close, “Me? A dick? You must be thinking of a different boyfriend.”  
“Oh yeah. Must have been my other boyfriend named Tim.”  
“Yeah you’ve got lots of those.”  
They just stood there for a minute. The chaos of the day finally cooled down. There weren’t any worms, or monsters that are your friends, or dead brothers. Just Tim and Sasha.  
“Hey, Sasha?” Tim asked after a minute. Sasha hummed. “I love you,” he said.  
Sasha pulled away just a little bit to kiss his forehead, “I love you too, Tim.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tall Sasha Rights. Hope you had or are having or are going to have a good holiday!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Prentiss left everyone in shambles. In Sasha's attempts to help Martin out, they make a horrifying discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW:  
> 1\. self isolation  
> 2\. disassociation (Anxiety)  
> 3\. Very strained father/son relationship  
> 4\. Mention of eating  
> If you find anything else you'd like a warning for, let me know.

Sasha would love to say that things went into a new but comfortable normal after Prentiss attacked, but that wouldn’t be true. In reality, Tim avoided Martin at all costs, and Martin seemed to think that the proper counter to that was to avoid everyone else at all costs. Whenever Jon needed someone to get something outside of the archives, Martin was the first to volunteer.  
For instance, Jon had noticed a book, Ex Altiora to be exact, in multiple statements and wanted to know if any book by that title had wound up in artifact storage. Obviously, Martin had offered to do it, and Tim wasn’t about to argue. So Sasha offered to go with, shooting a pointed look at Jon as she did. Maybe he got the gesture or maybe the book just really freaked him out. Either way, he agreed, and off Sasha and Martin went.  
Martin seemed determined to not make any conversation or eye contact. Very well, Sasha would just talk enough for the both of them.  
"You know I used to work in artifact storage. Where'd you work before the Archives again?" Sasha asked. She couldn't stand small talk, but she hadn't any other topics.  
Martin didn't respond. His eyes were glazed over, and he didn't seem fully there. Not like when someone's lost in thought, as in literally Martin was going a little transparent. Not entirely sure what she was seeing Sasha, put her hand on his shoulder. Almost immediately, Martin came back to reality, and with it became more opaque.  
"Sorry, what did you say?" Martin asked.  
"I asked where you worked before the archives," Sasha answered, giving him a comforting pat. He looked so scared. Like he was doing something wrong by talking to her.  
"Oh. Um. I don't actually work in the archives."  
"Really? I thought your father said he had transferred you over," Sasha said, genuinely confused. Martin had flinched when she mentioned Elias and that- oh right, "I'm sorry, Martin. I forgot you hated getting called his son."  
Martin shrugged at her, trying and failing to give her a smile. "Apology accepted," He said. "Lot's has happened. It makes sense that you'd forget a couple things." They walked in more comfortable silence, sometimes broken up by the small talk Sasha knew Martin hated as much as she did until they made it to artifact storage.  
"Didn't you used to work here?" Martin asked as they walked through the door. That couldn't be good, could it? He didn't even hear her. She pushed aside her anxieties and nodded.  
"Hey! Sasha!" an unfamiliar voice said. A few seconds later, an average height person with short brown hair, and pale skin, sprinted up to them, "Oh, you probably don't remember me, huh? Lesley Davidson? You trained me."  
Sasha definitely remembered a Lesley Davidson, but it wasn't this one. Lesley was a quiet, reserved Latinx person, and ze was taller than Sasha was. Definitely not the white, short person standing in front of her now.  
Martin saw the confusion on Sasha's face and jolted. He must have known what was up. Sasha expected him to start searching for an excuse to get them out of there, but instead, he outstretched his hand for 'Lesley' to shake.  
"Hi, I'm-" He didn't even get to finish the sentence before 'Lesley' gasped and took his hand.  
"Is this Tim?" Ze asked.  
Sasha laughed through her discomfort. "No. This is Martin," She said, rearing up to make a joke about Martin's thing for Jon.  
Lesley laughed, "Sorry. Wait. Martin as in Martin Blackwood?" Ze flinched back, quickly retracting hir hand, "As in Elias's son?"  
Usually, Martin would flinch away, quickly stutter out something about their strained relationship and change the subject. But something was clearly not right, and Martin seemed willing to use Lesley's discomfort as assurance. He grinned and laughed- it sounded less like him and more like he was doing an impression of Elias- and said, "Yes, tiz!" His voice dripped with false friendliness.  
Lesley looked terrified and annoyed in equal measures. Ze quickly mumbled something about having work to do and scampered away.  
***  
Sasha and Martin didn't talk about what had happened until they got confirmation that no, Ex Altiora was not checked into artifact storage and left. Once they were out, they got a good few meters away before, after getting a nod of confirmation from Martin, Sasha grabbed him by the hand, and they bolted. They didn't stop running until they were safe in the archives, Martin already locking the door. Their visible panic caught the attention of Jon and Tim, who leaped up to face them.  
"What the hell? Are you two okay?" Jon asked, alarmed.  
Martin didn't respond. Instead, he laid a comforting hand on Sasha's shoulder and asked, "That wasn't Lesley Davidson. Was it?"  
***  
After the artifact storage debacle, which Martin adamantly avoided explaining to Jon, Jon insisted that they take their lunch break early. Sasha was pleasantly surprised when Martin suggested they eat lunch together.  
As they walked to a nice -and cheap- café near the Institute, Sasha took her chances to ask a question, " Why didn't you want to tell Jon what we saw? I know he used to be dismissive but, after Prentiss, I don't really think he could be."  
Martin shrugged, at a loss, "I'm not really sure myself. I just know that Jon knowing is worse than him not knowing for the time being."  
"But why? Even if he can't help, he'll be a lot safer knowing," Sasha argued.  
Martin made a frustrated sound and gestured his answer to no avail. "Okay," He started. "I'm about to sound a lot like Elias, so please don't comment on it." Sasha laughed. before Prentiss, he'd need to say stuff like that a lot. "He's not ready to know yet. I- I feel like if we tell him, he'll go after it, and he can't look too far into it."  
"Is whatever replaced Lesley- well-" Sasha winced even as she asked it, but she needed to know. "Is it like you?"  
Martin laughed at Sasha's hesitance and shook his head. "No. The NotThem was never human."  
"Okay. One more question."  
"Of course."  
"Are there other things like you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is not Sunday. Whoops. In my defense instead of updating on time, I read a 500 page book in a day.  
> 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elias is a really shitty dude.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that I forgot to put CWs in the last chapters! I'll be fixing that and doing it from now on.  
> CW:  
> 1\. Mentions of lying.  
> 2\. I'm not sure how to describe this, but Elias is just a really shitty dude, y'all.  
> 3\. Passive aggression.  
> 4\. Self isolation.  
> Please let me know if you spot any more.  
> Quick warning that I just discovered that you don't have to use HTML here so I will be using a lot more italics.

Martin had to lie to Sasha. He hated lying to people. Martin was scarily good at it, but he hated it. Peter used to worry he'd run off to the Web. But Martin couldn't tell her the truth. It would only serve to scare her. Make her paranoid. Martin would tell her the truth eventually. Just not yet.

Elias had called Martin up to his office. Never a good sign. He waved to Rosie as he made his way into Elias's asshole office with the self-absorbed dickhead painting of Jonah Magnus (Also technically Elias.)

"What do you want?" Martin asked, not bothering their usual passive-aggressive song and dance.

Elias grinned that wolfish grin at him, "Well, _Son_ _,_ I wish you'd be more respectful to your father, but I have some questions for you." Anyone who says you shouldn't hate your parents wasn't raised Elias fucking Bouchard. If Martin had to guess (Which he didn't much like to do. Better to not think about whatever the hell Elias was doing,) this was one of those times where Elias was about to hold something over his head.

Still, Martin sat down at the seat across from Elias's desk and looked at him questioningly. "Go on," He said, too tired to try to fight.

Elias frowned at him, "How much sleep have you gotten?"

Martin flipped him off.

"Listen- okay. Yes. Yes. That's fair, but- Mar-Martin, I am your father, and I would-"

"Fuck off, Elias!"

"I would like to confirm that your taking care of yourself."

"You know I'd probably get more sleep if you stopped torturing my friends!"

Elias sighed, "Martin. We've had this conversation before. In order to become the ruler of the new world-"

"I hate you so much."

"I needed to find a suitable sacrifice for the Ceaseless Watcher, and you and the Eye happen to have the same taste in men."

"I don't see why you Need to sacrifice anyone!"

"Martin. I don't want to fight-"

"Then just ask your god damn question!"

"Okay. Okay." There was a pause before Elias threw his head back against his chair, groaning. "I was going to be all menacing and vague about knowing about the NotThem, but now I just feel bad!"

Martin rolled his eyes, "Well, sorry to foil your plans. Is that all?"

Elias pouted. Grow the fuck up, dude. "Well, no. Peter wanted me to ask if you wanted to go on a Tundra round with him, but between you and me, I think he's just worried you'll finally notice that the Eye is much cooler than the Lonely."

"Bye, Elias!" Martin announced as he walked to the vainglorious doors.

"Oh! Martin! I almost forgot! I transferred you over to the Archives. You're an assistant now."

Martin stopped. He's given Elias plenty of looks in his time, all of which entirely deserved, but none quite as deadly as this. "There's nothing you could say that would make me do it," he whispered darkly.

Elias wasn't grinning. For the first time in his life, he seemed serious. "Would you rather I call Peter? He'll actually try to kill him. I was being merciful, Martin. If you do it, he'll be safer. Peter doesn't love him."

Martin's ears rang. There had always been the implication that Elias wanted him to mark Jon. Why else hire an avatar of the Lonely? But something about knowing it was true- Martin had always held firm that Elias and Peter would be great parents if they weren't so evil, but he could feel that conviction fading.

"Hey, Elias?" Martin said.

Maybe Elias looked guilty, or maybe he looked smug. Martin couldn't really focus on expressions at the moment. The room was probably freezing. "Yes, Martin?" Elias answered.

"I think I actually might hate you." And then Martin walked out the door and slammed it behind him.

***

The good news is that Martin was pretty sure he hadn't marked Jon already. The bad news is that everything Martin did made him feel like he was actively trying to. If Martin carried on like usual, he couldn't help but feel like he was tricking Jon into trusting him. If he avoided Jon- Well, that was isolation, wasn't it?

It also didn't help that Jon had tried to apologize for everything he's ever done approximately 500 fucktillion times. And- yes. Martin wasn't going to deny it. Jon was a major dick to him before Prentiss. He could admit that even if he was in love with him. Grade A asshole, skeptic Jon was. 

The problem was that Martin couldn't decide what the best response was. If he accepted the apology, Jon would most likely feel obliged to spend more time with him. Bad Idea. If he declined it, Jon would probably isolate himself out of guilt or something. 

It's not like he could tell Tim or Sasha, either. Tim hadn't spoken to him since he found out, which was probably for the best, and Sasha would assure him that she trusted that he would never hurt Jon. That was true. He liked Jon and Tim and Sasha. He was never very good with friends (Lonely), but he felt like he could trust them. The problem was that it wasn't his choice whether or not Jon got hurt.

Elias wasn't kidding. It could be either him or Peter who Would kill Jon. But Martin knew that Elias wouldn't call on Peter unless it was a dire situation. Even when they were married, Peter had no qualms vocalizing what a bad idea the Watcher's Crown was. So Martin would just have to wait it out until the last second. Maybe he could find some way to protect Jon from Peter, or Jon would be too strong at that point to just be pulled into the Lonely.

He still didn't know what he wanted to do until them. He didn't like avoiding Jon all together, but he had other friends to keep him from being isolated. Hence he had decided, for the time being, to stay as far away from Jon as he could. It was more difficult, now that he actually Worked in the Archives, but he was doing fine. Taking his lunch break at weird times, avoiding any conversation not pertaining to work, and so on and so forth. Basically, what Tim was employing to avoid Martin, Martin then used to stay far away from Jon. 

Martin had already played the avoiding game before. He had been taking any chance he could to stay out of the Archives. But that was mainly out of respect. He got that everything was a lot, and the others weren't raised on it. He didn't want them to feel like they had to talk to him. Now Martin wanted them to feel like they couldn't talk to him. 

This had worked for a couple weeks. Martin had almost dared to hope that even Sasha had given up on trying to get him to talk. Then something interesting happened.

Martin had gotten in early that day. He'd been testing that out for a couple days now. It meant he had to spend time when he and Jon were the only ones in the Archives, considering Jon gets to work at like 5:00 AM, but it lessened the likelihood of being invited to hang after work if he left a little early. Usually, the first few hours before the others got there, Jon would come out of his office every 10 minutes and give him puppy eyes. That was as much as he ever dared to do. Today was different.

Martin had gotten in at about 5:45 that day. He wasn't even all the way through the door before Jon grabbed him by the hand and dragged him into his office.

"Jon? What's wrong?" Martin asked, only slightly frantic. Had the NotThem gotten down here? Was he okay? Oh god, what if the NotThem already got him? How could he be sure that this was Jon?

Before Martin could spiral too far, Jon grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing Martin to look him in the eyes. "You've been avoiding me. Why?"

Martin had never been compelled. Jon had never wanted to know anything about him that badly and Elias drew very strange lines when it came to parenting. He had held firm that Martin should never feel forced to tell him anything, magic or otherwise. The fucking weirdo was willing to force Martin to kill his crush. But not to tell him what he wants for dinner. Martin decided he wasn't a giant fan of the sensation of words being forced out of him, but at the same time, Jon didn't know what he was doing. Nevertheless, compelling isn't something people can just resist, so Martin told him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck Elias Bouchard. All my homies hate Elias Bouchard. Yes I know it isn't Sunday but I finished early and got excited.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon and Martin have a much needed discussion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's still Sunday where I live. I count this as a win.  
> CW:  
> 1\. weaponry  
> If you notice anything else you'd like me to put in a warning for, let me know.

Nothing Martin said really made any sense to Jon. That being said, he could tell, whatever it was, it was bad. Jon honestly wasn't sure why Martin had been avoiding him. Other than some incredibly rude intrusive thoughts that said- It doesn't matter. The point is that, whatever he was expecting, it wasn't that.

Most of the words coming out of Martin's mouth didn't make any sense. But Jon got the gist of it. From what Jon understood sounded like Elias wanted Martin to hurt Jon somehow (the word Martin used didn't really make sense, but he was so distressed that Jon didn't really want to ask.) Luckily, it sounded like Martin didn't want to. But if he refused, Elias would call Peter. Jon had never met Martin's other father, but the thought seemed to terrify Martin, so he doubted that they'd get along.

By the time Martin was finished speaking, he was downright panicked. Jon had never been the best at comfort, especially not in a situation where someone was worried for his sake, but he managed to put his hand on Martin. His stomach dropped when Martin pulled his hand back.

"Sorry," Jon said, trying his best not to look up.

Martin just shook his head and steadied his breathing. After a second, he took a shaky breath and whispered, "I didn't mind. I- Just... You know, you really should be trying to avoid me, right?"

"Now, why would I do that?" Jon asked. He couldn't really tell if he was trying to sound more offended or less offended than he actually was.

Martin laughed, but it wasn't the sweet, quiet laugh Jon had gotten used to. "Wow. You really have no self-preservation instincts, huh?" He said.

"Sure I do," Jon said, "You just aren't going to hurt me."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Because you aren't a monster, Martin. Because you saved Sasha's life. Because I trust you."

Martin almost looked like he had flushed at that last part. But Jon wasn't one to pay any mind to the subconscious actions of others. Especially when he was more worried over whether he'd come off weird.

"Listen, Jon. It's nice that you trust me and all, but you can't possibly conceive of how much danger you're in."

"Then help me! You clearly know what's going on to some extent, so-" Jon bowed his head, speaking softly, "Enlighten me."

Martin, for his part, looked like Jon had just asked him to commit treason. (Well, maybe he had. Jon had absolutely no idea what was going on.) He quickly stood up and said, "Oh no. No. No. No. That's exactly  _ not  _ what I'm going to do."

"Why not?" Jon asked, hoping it didn't come off whiney.

"Because-" Martin leaned against the door (god, he was tall) and groaned, "I don't really know. But I'm positive that it would be the opposite of helpful."

"Well then, what can I do, Martin?" Jon asked a bit too fiercely. He corrected his tone and then continued, "Because your current solution of avoiding me is off the table."

"Nothing, Jon! The best advice I can give you is to stop reading those statements," Martin said, exasperated. Jon opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Martin interrupted him, "And before you even ask, no. I can't tell you why."

They stood in silence for a moment, both exasperated. At some point, Martin had sat back down in front of Jon. Jon hadn't noticed, though, because he was too busy lying face down on his desk. They then  _ sat _ in silence for a little longer before Martin finally said, "You just have to trust me."

"I  _ do  _ trust you, Martin. That's not the problem," Jon mumbled from his desk. "I just wish there was something I could do to help."

Jon felt a soft hand run through his hair and had to stop himself from gasping. That didn't mean anything, Jon reminded himself. There wasn't any good way to just pat his arm in the way he was sitting. It  _ certainly  _ didn't mean  _ that, _ he reminded the annoying part of his brain that didn't have to deal with HR.

"Just stay safe, Jon," he heard Martin whisper. "That's the best possible thing you could do for me."

At this point, the rude little voice in the back of his head was just making stuff up. Friends are allowed to not what friends to die, asshole. Even so, the voice did have a point. Jon  _ did _ want to get to know Martin more. Especially since apparently they were friends now. Especially because Martin was the only person Jon was sure he could trust. Although even as paranoid as he was, he was pretty damn sure now that Elias had killed Gertrude.

Involuntarily, Jon looked up and began speaking, softly taking Martin's hand off of his hair as he did. "Martin, do you-?" Luckily before whatever trainwreck Jon was about to make could occur, Sasha ran into the room ( _ god, how was it already 7? _ ).

"Fuck, Martin! There you are! Listen, I know you said it was a bad idea to tell Jon, but Tim just did something really dumb-" She paused suddenly, registering for the first time the, probably very tender looking, moment in front of her. "O-kay. I'm going to elect to ask about this later because we need to go."

***

As Jon followed Martin and Sasha through the Institute to Tim, the other two explained what was actually happening. Apparently, the thing that had attacked Sasha (the NotThem, according to Martin) had taken an old coworker of Sasha's. When asked about why Martin didn't want to tell Jon, Martin had said, "Because you'd probably try to fucking kill it, Jon!" which was fair but also very rude.

Sasha then told both of them that Tim had found an old polaroid of Sasha's actual coworker and, after seeing his wife's freaked-out expression, had come to the conclusion to kill the NotThem. Jon thought that this was a completely valid decision, getting a "Case and fucking point." from Martin. Tim then got attacked by the NotThem, though, and was now being chased around in the Tunnels.

"Okay, but how do we stop it?" Jon asked.

"We're not really sure," Sasha said, "I've been doing some research, but the only thing I managed to find out was that it was connected to that creepy-ass spider table."

A figurative lightbulb appeared over Jon's head. Either that or it was a literal lightbulb, and the Archives crew had just seen enough weird shit to stop caring. "Hold on!" He said, racing into the storage room that a year before had acted as Martin's sleeping quarters.

Martin's jaw dropped when Jon brought out the axe, but Sasha didn't blink. She just nodded like she could see where this was going and liked it.

"Why the fuck do you have that?" Martin asked indignantly.

Jon just shrugged, "I'll take this thing to Artifact Storage and take care of the table. You guys go get Tim."

Martin nodded, but Sasha shook her head, "No. I want to watch it die. The NotThem tried to kill me, and I want the satisfaction of it knowing I beat it."

Jon laughed at that but nodded, "Okay. We kill the NotThem, Martin gets Tim. Hey, that's two whole people! They should give you the Nobel Peace Prize."

Martin made a pained expression but obliged, heading towards the trap door. 

Jon smiled after him for a second before turning back to the stairs and walking up them with determination. "Okay," He said. "Let's kill a fucking monster."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may be an a bit of a pining mood but I'm a lesbian so you really shouldn't expect anything else. Can't believe that I gave the best chapter end one liner to Jon but them's the breaks.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tunnels momentarily become Tim and Martin's get along shirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tim, sweetie, I love you, but please just chill out <3.  
> CW:  
> 1\. Just so much anger.  
> 2\. mentions of murder  
> 3\. a small mention of drugs at the end.  
> If you notice anything else you'd like me to put in a warning for, let me know.

Of the coworkers Tim was hoping would save him, Martin was last on that list. Tim heard what Sasha had said and had known she was right. But every time he thought about trying to hang out again, the memory of Danny's body popped into his head. Tim knew that wasn't really fair, but to him, his anger seemed justified. Martin had  _ known _ something was up the whole time, and he didn't say anything.

Needless to say, when Martin came running through the tunnels and told him to follow, Tim was less than pleased. The good news is that Martin seemed less keen to talk than he did. That was another thing. Martin never once tried to convince him he was still his friend. He had just wiped himself off of the face of the Earth. 

Tim followed Martin in weary silence, nonetheless. Every once and a while, they would hear whatever had taken Lesley Davidson calling for Tim, and Martin would pull him into some random direction. A great solution to the problem of the monster who they seemed to have lost a while ago. Not fantastic, considering they were now painfully lost.

There was absolutely no reason to want to start a conversation, and yet... The quiet just was wrong. He and Martin used to start conversations out of a lone sandal in a hallway. That's true. They found a sandal in a hallway once and thought it was hysterical. Now Tim could hardly look at Martin. It wasn't right. It wasn't how they were  _ supposed  _ to be.

"Where have you been lately?" Tim asked, after 4 other attempts to speak.

Martin looked at Tim. His expression was unreadable, but eye contact was short-lived. As Martin suddenly elected to look at the countless chalk arrows lining the halls instead. "Avoiding Jon?" Martin asked more than said.

Tim laughed, shakey and somewhat hollow but real. "You? Avoiding Jon? Why?" He asked, amusement written faintly but clearly on his face.

Martin was contemplating something. Tim could tell because when he thought particularly hard about anything, his eyes would scan around like he was reading. Eventually, he came to a decision and said, "I'll tell you. But..." Martin stuttered on what to say for a second. "This isn't really something you'll be able to avoid once you know." Martin winced as he said it and stuttered, "N-not that that's what you've been doing. I ge-get it, really."

"It's fine. I didn't think you did." Tim sighed and thought. Whatever Martin was talking about, he clearly wasn't kidding. Knowing anything could be dangerous, but... Tim didn't like not knowing. After a moment, he shook his head, "Yeah, I think whatever this is, I should know."

Martin paused, giving Tim time to change his mind. He didn't. "Okay," Martin said. "I tried my best... So Elias is... a bad person."

"Well, no duh, Mar. He's a Tory," Tim interjected.

"Yes, but I mean." Martin took a deep breath. "He killed Gertrude."

Tim wiped his mouth. He did that when he was trying to think. He thinks he got it from his mom. "So  _ that's _ what Sasha didn't tell me. So, what? Like it was some fucked up overprotective father thing, and you're worried he'll do the same to Jon?"

Martin laughed and pushed at Tim, "Gross! No, he... um," His smile had died almost instantly, "He- he wants me to  _ hurt  _ Jon."

_ What the fuck? _ It wasn't like Tim is for murdering your employees, but if you're going to, at Least have the decency not to involve your kid. "Oh, what the fuck is wrong with Elias? You- He- UGH!" Tim couldn't really express his anger in actual words, but it looked like Martin got it. 

After a second of incomprehensible rage, Tim had calmed down enough to stop yelling random curse words. They were walking farther in much more comfortable silence for a few minutes before Martin whispered, "Thank's for not telling me that you trust me not to."

Tim put a hand on Martin's shoulder, "Because I don't trust you. Martin, your one of my best friends, but after what happened to Danny, I just-"

Martin kind of snapped at Tim. Not like he was angry. More like Tim had just brought up a point that Martin wanted to talk about, and he wanted to say something before the subject changed. "I had absolutely nothing to do with his death. Not the Lukases, not Elias, nothing. I'm not going to claim that I'm a good person, but I really didn't."

"Do you know who did?" Tim hadn't even  _ thought  _ about that. Maybe Martin wasn't a part of the Circus, but Tim was willing to bet that he knew who was. 

"Uh- yes... but-"

"A name, Martin."

"Yeah, okay. Fair. She's really creepy, though. Plus, I'm not really sure if her name would even appear in databases, so I'm not sure how much it will help, but- Yeah, okay. I'm done, stop glaring, Tim, I'll tell you."

Like some fucking douchebag, God decided to interrupt Tim finally getting answers. A door that hadn't been there a few minutes ago opened impossibly loudly. Martin saw the headache of a man that came out and groaned in annoyance.

"What do you want, Michael?" Martin asked.

_ Fuck _ . "Michael as in 'stabbed Sasha' Michael?" Tim asked.

The thing laughed. If it could be called that. Tim thought for sure his ears were bleeding, but Martin hardly blinked.  _ Oh, to be an eldritch monster who's just stopped giving a shit.  _ "Oh, I am so much more than that, Mr. Stoker!"

Martin just rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. I know. You're the 'throat of delusion' and whatever. What do you want?" he asked again.

Michael, for his part, ignored Martin. He just kept monologuing on and on about all of the people he's killed- or maimed. "Oh! And, of course, your Archivist!" He said, not nearly close to the end of his list. 

"Wait, Jon?" Tim asked.

"Oh, yes! Actually, he's somewhere down here. Maybe you'll see him! Running from the NotThem." That was when Tim noticed Michael's hands.  _ Oh god.  _ They were long and pointed, and when Michael put his hand on the wall, the plaster chipped off. He  _ had  _ to get out of here. He took his chances to push past Michael into the door. Was it suicidal? Yes. But he hated the tunnels already, and FuckHands McMike here was the last straw. Ever since Prentiss, going down here made him feel like the walls were closing in on him. As stupid as it sounded, he'd rather go into certain doom than continue to be so disorientated.

"Are you going with him, Martin?" He heard the thing say behind him.

"What are you playing at, Michael?" Martin shot back. 

Tim stopped in his tracks. He didn't turn back, though. He thinks he was waiting for Martin. But he doesn't know why. As bad as it is, at the moment, he didn't really care about what happened to Martin.

Another head-splitting laugh later Michael answered. "I'm just giving you a way out! The NotThem will kill you if given the chance, and it's not like  _ you _ were going to offer." Martin flinched back at that, but Michael just kept going. "What about this is different than from when you saved Sasha?"

Martin didn't look like he was going to respond, but it didn't really matter. Seconds after, Tim could hear what used to be Lesley (Not anymore. Tim had seen the thing, and it was  _ bad _ ) calling after Jon. All hesitation suddenly died within Martin, and he ran through the door, after Tim.

***

They'd been walking for who knows how long. Okay, yeah, duh. It didn't take a genius to see this coming but still. The hallways all looked the same, and the door had slammed shut after Martin ran through. 

Speaking of, Martin hadn't spoken since before Michael. He did keep looking over at Tim every so often. He looked at him, all apologetic, and it was so annoying.

After the third or fourth time, Tim spoke up, "Can you please just tell me what's wrong? I'm getting tired of your depressing game of peekaboo."

Martin laughed quietly. "I really am sorry, Tim," he said.

"About what?" Tim could guess, obviously. There were about a million things Tim knew he was mad at Martin for. But none of those things were really things he should be apologizing for.

"I put Sasha in danger! The Lonely really isn't a safe place, and I brought her there! I've tried apologizing to her, and she just laughs it off! Tells me nothing happened, so I should just make a note for next time! I know it isn't you that I should be apologizing to, but-" Martin slowed down. Whatever adrenaline he'd been running on slowing down. "I just wanted to apologize to someone who'd actually acknowledge I did something wrong."

"You did do something wrong, Martin. But it's the same thing as these hallways, right?"

"How so?"

"Out there, it was certain death. In here, our chances still aren't good, but there is a chance we'll make it out alive. I am furious with you, Martin, don't think I'm not. But you did what you had to do."

"Thanks for that, Tim."

"No prob. Now can you  _ please  _ help me find a way out of this fucking maze?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that I missed last week! My grandpa just died and I was having a bit of trouble getting the motivation to do anything.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasha finds herself trapped in a web.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hoo boy. I really like the idea of Sasha being consumed by curiosity so.  
> CW:  
> 1\. weaponry (not a lot but it's still there)  
> 2\. Mind control  
> 3\. Murder  
> If you notice anything else you'd like me to put in a warning for, let me know.

Sasha couldn't really make sense of what happened.

After Martin had left, she and Jon made their way up to Artifact Storage. It probably should've been a quiet walk, but they actually filled the silence pretty well. Especially considering neither of them were really talkers.

"So..." Sasha started almost immediately after Martin left. She'd grill him later. For now, it was Jon's turn.

Jon groaned, "Oh no."

"Yep!" Sasha was sure she was grinning, "Wanna tell me about it?"

"Not really, no."

"You're impossible, Jonathan."

"Because there isn't anything to talk about. It wasn't like that! We were just talking."

Honestly, Sasha didn't really think it was. Martin was a physically affectionate person. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence to see Tim lying across his lap or Sasha giving him a peck on the cheek. That's just how he was. Still, Sasha would never pass up the opportunity to fuck with Jon, especially in a scenario where the only other thing to do was be afraid, so she asked, "But do you want it to be something?"

It was a joke, of course. Sasha was expecting him to either laugh or sputter out an offended no. She was not expecting Jon to start walking faster, pointedly ignoring her.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed.

"No. No, we aren't having this conversation. Not today."

"You  _ like  _ Martin!"

"Shouldn't we be focusing on the NotThem?"

"All that would do is scare us. Now tell me about Martin."

"He's my assistant, Sasha! That would be totally inappropriate.  _ If  _ I had feelings for him, which I don't."

"Okay, first of all, I don't think you  _ can _ fire him. Pretty sure we're all stuck here. Second, everyone has feelings for Martin. He's sexy."

Jon laughed at that."Yeah, sex appeal isn't really a factor for me." He said, gesturing to his ace ring. "Wait, hold on. What do you mean we can't leave?"

"I meant metaphorical sexiness."

"Important stuff now. We can talk about Martin later."

"Martin's metaphorical sexiness is very important," Jon gave her a look. "Yeah, yeah, okay. I've been talking with Tim. We both tried to quit- no offense. We just prefer to have jobs with a little fewer worms- but we couldn't. Not like we wanted to stay or something. We just couldn't."

Jon looked upset by this revelation but nodded, "Yeah, that sounds about right. Martin mentioned something about being stuck here, too. During Prentiss's attack. Then I asked him if he was a ghost, which is the only reason I even slightly remember that conversation."

Sasha gave a surprised laugh, "Damn, Jon, I was rooting for you, but I'm not sure you can recover from that!"

"Okay, in my defense, I just had a corkscrew shoved in my leg, and I'm not sure if you know this, but that  _ hurts _ ."

"Yeah, I'm sure. So what do you think we should do?"

"I don't know if there's anything we  _ can  _ do, really. As bad as it is, I don't think we know enough yet."

"Yeah, I guess that works. I don't like it, but what else could we do?"

\----

They had actually managed to keep the conversation going until they got to Artifact Storage. As weird as it is to talk more than you have in months while you're about to die, something was comforting about it. Like, if Sasha was going to die, at least she'd go out with a friend. The moment they stepped through the threshold, though, all conversation died.

Jon held his ax towards Sasha. "Would you like to do the honors?" He asked.

Sasha grinned and pushed it back towards him. "Nah," She said, "I think I'll film what happens. You know. For scientific purposes." Jon snorted but took the ax back.

He stood across from the table and nodded for her to turn on the camera. And- okay, maybe her wanting to film it had nothing to do with science. Maybe she just wanted proof that she really did almost die. That she didn't just forget what her coworker looked like. She knew that was crazy. Other people had seen it, and Tim and Martin wouldn't just placate her like that.  _ This was real.  _

And then, just like that, Jon swung the ax down, and she got her "confirmation." The only price she had to pay was everything going to shit. It turns out, the table was trapping the NotThem. Not sustaining it. Now all because of a fucking miscalculation, Jon was probably dead, and Sasha was too afraid to leave Artifact Storage.

She was lucky enough to be well enough hidden that the NotThem didn't see her. She kinda doubted it would have cared, watching it chase after Jon as it did, Sasha was pretty sure he was it's target. Which managed to piss her off even more. It's not that Sasha  _ wanted  _ to be the victim of some shape-shifting monster, but it nearly killed her, and the idea that there was no reason to it was insulting. But maybe she just read too many books as a kid.

She really should've just gone after Jon. Left that damn place and never came back. But something about her just had to get a look at that table. 

It was ironic, looking at the broken pieces of a table at the centre of so many mysteries. Sasha wanted to laugh, and she wanted to cry, and she didn't understand either of those impulses. She hated not understanding. She picked up a piece to look at it, and those statement givers weren't kidding. The fractals covering it were mesmerizing. She got the sudden impulse to snap it in half. She followed it. Hundreds of tiny spiders came crawling onto her arm, and she couldn't even find it in her to be shocked.

\----

Sasha doesn't know how long she was standing there, staring at that broken table. She doesn't know what thoughts were running through her mind. Just that they weren't her own. What felt like seconds later, she heard Martin yell, "Shit! Tim, I found her! Get over here now!"

She doesn't know how long Martin waited for Tim. When he finally came into the room, he let out a sigh of relief at seeing Sasha, but then he saw what she was holding.

"Sasha?" He said, stepping towards her. "What's wrong?"

"Get that thing away from her!" She heard Martin shout. He sounded panicked, but she was too busy being angry. How dare he ask Tim to take- whatever this was, She forgot.- from her.

Tim seemed to agree with Martin, though, and wrestled it out of her hand. She doesn't remember if she put up a fight. 

The second she snapped out of whatever state she was in, she heard Tim ask, "What the fuck is this?"

"Don't! Don't look at it! Just put it down," Martin yelled. He still sounded really panicked.

"Martin? Tim? What happened to Jon?" Sasha asked after a few tries.

Tim laughed bitterly, and Martin's face grew saddened. "On the run from the pigs," Tim answered.

"What? What happened?"

"He killed some old guy."

Martin made an offended sound that would've been funny in a different situation. "As I said, that was Juergen Leitner-"

"Wait, Juergen Leitner?" Sasha interrupted, "Stupid idiot goddamn-"

Martin gave her an exhausted look. "Yes. I get it. I didn't like him either. But Jon didn't kill him."

Tim waved him off. "Yeah. I know, it was daddy dearest." Martin made a face but stayed quiet. "But, I'm not sure the police would believe us. Like-Elias is a millionaire."

"Yeah!" Martin groaned in frustration. "Okay. The police are gonna be here any minute now, and we'll have to answer some questions. This is going to suck, but I need you two to promise me something."

"Of course. What is it?" Sasha asked.

"Don't tell the police it was Elias."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! We're done with season 2! The next season is going to be longer and have more perspective characters. I think I'm also gonna get rid of the pattern and just switch between what's going on with Jon and at the Archives like it does in canon. The next chapter may take a bit longer as I actually remember what season 3 is about and draw out a timeline. Also I promise Martin's line at the end isn't as lame as it sounds. There's an actual reason for that but it might take a while to get to it.


	9. Small hiatus (so sorry)

Sorry I haven't updated in forever! My brain's doing that annoying thing where it gives me writers block but only for one thing. I promise I'll try to update soon, just expect some delays. Again, so sorry!


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